You know, we all talk a good game about keeping job positions in America and stemming the tide of illegal immigrants who pour through our borders at an alarming rate. But are we really willing to change our lifestyle, to put our money where our mouth is?

We love bargains so we buy the lowest priced goods from clothes, to electronics, to household furnishings. We have tags on everything we own: "Made in China," or "Assembled in Mexico." We could insist on only purchasing items manufactured in the United States but then we would have to pay more, a lot more.

For Americans to be willing to take the jobs that go to illegal immigrants, pay rates would need to be substantially increased. If a living, above-the-poverty-line, wage was paid for such work as restaurant helper, motel maid, farmhand, day laborer, swamper, furniture assembler, airplane ramp crew, custodian, and fast food worker, all of our goods and services would cost more, meaning that we'd have to give up many of the things we take for granted.

Companies have to maintain a robust bottom line to stay in business. They adjust their prices according to the cost of the goods produced. It may not be very philanthropic or humane, but it is plain, basic economics.

When decent jobs are hard to come by, it is very tempting to blame employers for sending their jobs overseas. It is much more difficult to look at ourselves and admit that our own consumption habits and needs are the driving force.

Virginia Bola, PsyD

Dr. Virginia Bola is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, a vocational expert, a social commentator and a self-admitted diet fanatic. After 20 years of owning a vocational rehabilitation company, she is now Manager of Clinical Operations for a major MBHO.

She has authored numerous articles on the psychology of weight control, the emotional correlates of unemployment and job search, social issues, politics, and the graying of America.

Her latest book, completed in June, 2005,is Diet With An Attitude: A Weight Loss Workbook, an interactive manual providing the reader with personal guidance and encouragement in the battle to lose weight. It takes an irreverent approach to dieting while providing innovative and therapeutic exercises for self-exploration, confidence-building and emotional self-support.

Her earlier book, The Wolf At The Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, provides unemployed workers with therapeutic exercises, self-exploration, and confidence-building worksheets combined with specific, step-by-step techniques for finding work.